State to pay $6m compo after case collapses

The State Government is preparing to make a $6 million compensation payout to a man whose assets were frozen under WA's tough property confiscation laws.

Nigel Cunningham Swift Mansfield walked from the Supreme Court yesterday with a beaming grin after a prosecutor from the office of WA's Director of Public Prosecutions told the court he had agreed to "discontinue" the long-running action against Mr Mansfield.

Mr Mansfield's assets, including houses in South Perth and Como, four cars and a big share portfolio, have been frozen since Australian Crime Commission officers swooped on the Mansfield family home in July 2002.

Though Mr Mansfield had not been charged with a criminal offence by the Commonwealth body, the State DPP used WA's tough criminal property confiscation laws to freeze his assets and was pushing for them to be confiscated. They claimed his assets were "crime-derived".

But during the course of the litigation, the DPP was forced to provide an undertaking that it would pay damages to Mr Mansfield if the DPP lost the case.

The DPP has been negotiating over the size of that payout since prosecutors decided to withdraw the allegations. It is understood Mr Mansfield asked for more than $10 million to cover the cost of the financial ruin, including interest and penalties on all his loans, but has been negotiating around the $6 million to $8 million range in recent days.

The parties have agreed to stay the case for 60 days while the negotiations continue. It is understood the final payout must be approved by Cabinet and the case will then be dismissed.

Yesterday, prosecutor Michael Seaman told Justice Andrew Beech the amount of the final settlement would not be kept confidential. Mr Mansfield's lawyer, Colin Chenu, said his client had endured years of adverse publicity and his life had been destroyed.

"This matter has received a fair deal of publicity for the 7½ years that his property has been frozen on the basis of criminal activity, which the applicant in this matter now concedes should not proceed beyond today," Mr Chenu said.

"Mr Mansfield is entitled to be vindicated in respect of those long-held allegations that have ruined his career, damaged him financially and had a massive personal effect on him. He is entitled to have the world know that this matter has come to an end."

Outside court, Mr Mansfield said he could never be fully compensated for what he had lost. There had been a huge cost to his daughter's education and his family life.

"It's been a very, very difficult road. It's taken eight years to get here and the other side has fought every inch of the way so I'm very pleased with today's result. Common sense has prevailed. They've realised they were wrong and they've dropped it," he said.

"The State must have spent tens of millions, I would have thought. Ultimately, I think they made a mistake. But, like a lot of people when they make mistakes, it takes them a very long time to admit it."